High temperatures (for example, ˜200 deg. C. and above) and long distances (for example, ˜3 km and more) can make optical telemetry very impractical and/or unreliable using conventional techniques. For these reasons and others, it will be appreciated that improvements are continually needed in the art of downhole optical communication. Such improvements may be useful whether or not the optical communication is performed at relatively high temperatures or over relatively long distances.